For more than a decade, the Holy Grail for Internet marketers has been to find some way to improve their rankings in Google’s search algorithm. Now, thanks to Google’s new social search feature, anyone can grab hold of this once-elusive prize…just as long as they have a Google+ account.

If you’ve done a Google search recently, you’ve probably noticed the search engine’s nifty new feature. Just to the right (and sometimes indented below) your search results is a prominently featured panel featuring relevant social media listings related to your search.

A search for “sports”, for instance, might return a social listing for soccer star David Beckham; “politics” might yield a social link for Newt Gingrich, and “cooking” might get you the latest from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. It’s a thoughtful and timely functionality, clearly developed in response to the increasing role that the Social Web plays in business, politics, and interpersonal communications.

But there is a tiny catch.

In every market touched by the Internet, traditional business models have had to adapt or die.  Especially where sellers had been able to make big markups based on information asymmetry and control of local distribution.  They were astounded when Internet-savvy consumers came in with their own data on quality, costs and prices.  And they agonized when new online competitors from faraway places emerged to challenge their local market dominance.

Market middlemen who cling to old ways are headed for the dustbin of business history.  Just consider a few examples:

• Online travel sites lifted the curtain on the mysterious world of booking airline seats and hotel rooms.  Travel agents who add real value for customers are soaring, but those who just book flights have crashed and burned.

• Optometrists used to make big bucks marking-up contact lenses to their patients.  But those markups disappeared in the blink of an eye once consumers could buy their lenses online. Optometrists who saw this coming focused on their services and helped patients find the best deals on lenses.

• Ticket brokers who believe they alone should control secondary markets for sports and concert seats are finding themselves on sidelines as ticket holders turn to the Internet to sell seats they can’t use.

• Real estate agents are finding fewer homeowners are still willing to pay a $30,000 commission to sell a $500,000 home, especially when Internet-savvy buyers do most of their own legwork using online real estate sites.

Now, the Internet is happening to auto dealers too.

The notion of standing on the shoulders of giants is often referenced.

At a Congressional hearing this past Thursday, academic giants stood on NetChoice’s shoulders to bolster their arguments against the US’s adoption of EU regulations by citing NetChoice’s analysis.

The Congressional Subcommittee convened this hearing to discuss how the EU privacy laws impact the US and whether the US should mirror the EU.

Today we published our September 2011 “iAWFUL” list of bad Internet laws.  The worst offenders are new burdens on small businesses using the Internet, plus a Puerto Rico bill restricting how 17-year-olds can use social networking.

Our Internet Advocates’ Watchlist For Ugly Laws (yep, iAWFUL is an acronym) is the 10 items of state and federal legislation that pose the greatest threat to the Internet and e-commerce.

Today, a distinguished US Senator who was once concerned that the Internet had become the “number one national hazard” held a hearing on online privacy.   During the hearing, Senator John Rockefeller (WV) added these informed judgments on ad-supported Internet innovation and business models: